Games of the series Palm Kingdoms, formerly known as Pocket Heroes And Palm Heroes, well known to experienced owners of tablet computers and mobile devices. Since 2006, these strategies have been replaced by computer versions Heroes of Might and Magic. Several domestic developers united under the guise iosoftware LTD, do just the good old ones "Heroes of Might and Magic" – in the spirit of the first parts of the famous series. This applies to both the gameplay itself and the appearance, made in the style of “pixel” graphics.
Works iosoftware noticed and appreciated not only by ordinary players, but also by some former employees New World Computing, creators of the original series Heroes of Might and Magic. And now, having secured their support (mostly moral), the developers decided to resurrect on PC, Mac and Android another classic of the genre, created at one time by the company N.W.C, – we’re talking about King’s Bounty. The project was named Royal Bounty HD. Recently, its full version appeared on Steam and once again proved: what is good on mobile phones is not always appropriate on personal computers.
Royal classic
Looking at Royal Bounty HD, remember the famous song with the chorus “Everything is fine, beautiful marquise”. On the one hand, everything is really good – there are branded graphics, pleasant music and a huge RPG map on which you can travel for weeks in real time, “upgrading” your hero right up to level 50 – 55. Gameplay in Royal Bounty HD truly classic, devoid of dubious innovations that are designed to somehow simplify the passage.
Just like the original King’s Bounty 1990, we explore the map in a step-by-step mode, complete quests, fight in separate arenas, develop a hero and hire troops. There is no rebuilding of castles of different races. The main strategic task is the competent selection of “units”, the number of which is replenished every week in their lairs/barracks/tents, etc.
Goblins, peasants, fairies, minotaurs and ghosts https://betcavecasino.co.uk/mobile-app/ can still coexist in your army. And on the map there are still some chapels, altars, watchtowers, wells, fountains and forges that give certain bonuses when visiting them. And of course, there are chests in place, when you reach them you will see a familiar offer: take all the money for yourself or convert it into experience points.
“Exp” is accumulated by the hero himself, but his skills affect the entire army. At each level, you can “pump up” one of the familiar skills, increasing the damage or defense of your army, raising its morale or luck, becoming an expert in the field of water or earth magic, and so on. The hero is also able to try on various equipment and personally participate in battles by casting spells.
Peasant plot
Everything is fine, but the interface, tailored for mobile platforms, looks frankly inconvenient and ill-conceived on PC. We didn’t even find the option to turn on the mini-map.
The balance with a clear advantage in the direction of shooters, as well as the irrepressible, inadequate growth of enemy “units”, is also not thought out. If you hesitate somewhere, get distracted by exploring the map, you risk failing the passage, as the armies of quest enemies will grow to the size of the Tatar-Mongol horde during its glory and heyday.
Yes, in Royal Bounty HD no “casual” innovations and simplifications. In some places, as we said, everything is damn difficult. But many of the things that we loved so much in similar games from Russian-speaking developers are not here either. There is no humor and cozy fairy-tale atmosphere, as in "The Legend of the Knight" from Katauri Interactive, there is not the same level of non-linearity and complex multi-stage quests as in recent ones "Legends of Eisenwald".
Here we periodically come across unusual situations when, for example, we need to escape from a guard in a labyrinth or find a safe way past wolf caves, but in general the plot is primitive, the tasks are simple (“find my bow, catch my horse!"), and the texts seem to have been written by schoolchildren.
The magic is frankly weak and unfinished, the AI in battles takes advantage of numbers, not skill (you can only give it an auto battle or a quick battle in the simplest situations), the game itself often freezes and crashes… “But otherwise, beautiful marquise, everything is fine, everything is fine.”.
Of course, on mobile platforms many of these claims are removed – the level of requirements for such projects is still lower there. But since you came out on Steam and called yourself the full version, then the demand is corresponding. Yes, for Royal Bounty HD you can spend some time with interest, but so far, compared to its colleagues, this game lacks too much.
Pros: classic gameplay; high-quality pixel graphics and pleasant music.
Cons: primitive quests and texts; inconvenient and uninformative interface; have problems with balance; crashes and freezes happen.